


You Make Me Feel So Young

by nausicaa82



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Birthday, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-03
Updated: 2013-04-03
Packaged: 2017-12-07 08:33:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/746475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nausicaa82/pseuds/nausicaa82
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil Coulson has many friends who want to celebrate him. His boyfriend is literally the man of his dreams. He has his health.  He still gets a bit of the birthday blues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Make Me Feel So Young

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeta'd, I welcome people politely pointing out mistakes so I may correct them.

The birthday dinner had been really nice-- for the most part. Stark allegedly had set it up, but it was more likely Pepper had done the actual work. They had the entire upper floor of the restaurant filled with about a hundred S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, spies, and superheroes in civilian clothes having fun and being normal, or at least as close to normal as you could get with this group.

The whole night Steve had been right by Phil’s side, resting his hand on Phil’s thigh under the table even as they ate.They made the rounds together, talking with all of the friends who had come out to celebrate Phil's most earned birthday to date. Phil still had a cane and had been cleared to work only half days at the office. Because of the nature of their work, he had not seen many of them since before 'the incident.'

When they could, the two of them stole a few moments away from the others, going out on the empty grand balcony and looking out over the side to the courtyard below. There was a large fountain lit in different colors that would fade in and out in a hypnotizing manner. It was much more crowded down there with a band and other customers around a pretty active bar. Steve slipped his arms around Phil and held him close.

“Happy birthday, Phil,” he whispered and kissed him. Phil was in shock for a moment--Steve wasn’t one for public displays of affection-- but quickly snapped back to the matter at hand. He reached up and held Steve’s head, taking the kiss deeper and licking at his soft plump lips. When he finally moved away to catch his breath, Steve quickly pecked him once more.

“And one to grow on.” He smirked and then nodded over across the way. “I’m going to use the restroom downstairs; I don’t want to get caught in another conversation with Summers tonight if I can help it. I’ll be right back.” Steve quickly moved away, and Phil decided to stay in the cool night air for a little longer.

In barely any time at all, he saw Steve make his way across the courtyard. Just as he was about to reach his destination, Phil saw a rather good-looking man in his late 30s stop Steve and talk to him. Phil stiffed a bit and crossed his arms across his chest, resting his hand on his gun in its holster.

It was hard to judge the situation clearly from this distance and with this lighting. Sometimes these kinds of encounters would just be a fan asking if he was _the_ Captain America. Steve would always deny it to the adults, thank them for the compliment, and say that he just had one of those faces. However, whenever a child would ask him, Steve would lean in and whisper that he or she was very clever to have realized it. But there had been a couple of times when the encounters were less benign-- someone who already knew he was Captain America and wanted to harm him.

So Phil focused in on the man, trying to figure out his intent. When the man touched—no— _caressed_ Steve from his shoulder down to the small of his back. Phil gripped the handle of his piece.

 _One look at Steve, and no jury would convict me… they’d understand, might even think I should have done more than just graze_ , he thought. But now Steve’s head was pitched back with a laughter that cut through the noise of the patrons’ eating and chatting. The man didn’t look angry but rather surprised, and then glanced up to Phil. Steve patted him on the back and then made his way to the restroom.

Phil didn’t move his hand from the gun or take his eyes off the man as he moved back into the crowd at the bar. Only when Steve had returned did Phil relax. After another kiss, Steve guided him back into the party where a very large cake covered in candles was waiting for him.

-=-=-

Phil had been quieter for the rest of the party and completely silent on the car ride home. In their bedroom, as they were getting ready for bed, Steve was making idle talk about the evening.

“I really liked that cake although Tony went a little overboard with all the candles. I mean, I pretty sure they had to have Johnny light them. There were 200 if there were two.” Steve placed his watch on his dresser and sat on the bed to unlace his shoes.  

“I am an old man,” Phil mumbled. Hearing Phil’s tone, Steve stopped and turned to look at him.

“It was just a stupid joke; you’re not _that_ old.”

“I’m 49, Steve.”

“So? I’m older than that.” Steve shrugged and finished removing his shoes. Phil had undone his tie and the top buttons of his shirt, but his face was tense. He moved right in front of the blond sitting on the bed.

“If you count the years you experience, awake doing things, 49 is much older than 26.” His hand came up to wipe at his own face. “Christ, I just realized that I’m almost twice your—“

“Bullshit,” Steve cut him off, his voice firm. “You count from the year you were born. I’m 95, and _I’m_ almost twice _your_ age, young man.” He poked Phil gently on the chest with mock aggression.  Phil could no longer hold on to the anger from earlier that evening. He started laughing and Steve quickly joined in. The two didn’t stop until a few tears were falling down Phil’s cheek. When they had calmed down, Steve cupped Phil’s face in his hands, gently tilting until their foreheads touched.

“It didn’t bother me yesterday, and it continues not to bother me today. Does it bother you?” Steve asked in a low voice.

“No,” Phil softly replied. “It’s just sometimes people look at us and it's like I can hear what they are thinking.” His mind had gone through all the nasty things strangers, or even friends, could say about the two of them.

“Oh, like the guy at the restaurant.”

“Which guy?”

“I know you saw, Phil. You had your hand under your blazer when I came out of the restroom, and I bet your thumb was on the safety.” Phil smiled a little at how clever his Steve was.

“What did he say to you?”

“He asked if he could buy me a drink; I told him ‘no thank you,’ that I was with someone.” Steve moved his thumb over Phil’s right cheek. “He had seen us kissing and said that you must be a very rich man to keep such a pretty boy toy like me, but he was sure that he was richer.” Phil slightly moved back in shock.

“He said that to you?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry, I set him straight.” Steve bit his bottom lip and started to grin. “I told him that _I_ was the one with the trust fund and I was with you becuase you have a long, thick c—“ Phil, his eyes wide with disbelief, slapped his hand over Steve’s mouth.   

“You did not!”

Steve just nodded in the affirmative and kissed Phil’s palm. He reached up to take Phil’s hand and then started to lay back on to the bed, pulling Phil on top of him.

“Well, it’s true.” Steve chuckled, rolling his hips up against Phil. “But, I guess there are the other reasons, too,” he teased. “You’re smart, handsome, clever, brave, handsome, talented, bake the most delicious bread for me, _extremely_ handsome, and I’m madly in love with you.”

“I love you, too, Steve.” Phil leaned in closer to kiss Steve’s throat.

“Hmmm, how are you going to prove that, young man?”

“Let's see if I blew out enough candles to make my birthday wish come true.”


End file.
